The Life of a Caver: Return to Arthur Singleton's Cave

Sunday morning I got up and my caving friend Chris, and Paul came and picked me up. We were driving down to Rockcastle County to go to Arthur Singleton's Cave. If you remember, that is where I took Matt & Amy, and some others this summer. But we weren't able to see the good stuff.

(Approaching the thick, blanket of fog over the Kentucky River)
On the way we made our typical stop in Richmond to get out $5 all you can eat breakfast, and then finally arrived at the cave entrance. We soon discovered that the cave was wetter than it was this summer. I learned the reason for that is during the summer time there is more live plants and foliage to store the water. With everything dying, that isn't the case.

(Chris sitting in the entrance)
The main goal was to find the passage to the Empire Room, which is where most of the beautiful formations in the cave are located. I had studied the map, and did some reading. The passage was on the right hand side, underneath a giant flowstone choke. When we arrived at the location I realized it was where Amy had been trying to climb over. So Chris, Paul and I ducked under and completed the short crawl to find ourselves at the back end of the Empire Room. And ahead of us we saw this...

Along with a few other pillars. It was quite breathtaking. Here in this area with about 3 feet of clearance these pillars just filled the place. After we were down gawking at these, we decided to head to the other end of the Empire Room. This Room has a large mountain of breakdown in it. It is a result of when the cave formed and the ceiling collapsed, leaving boulders and rock on the floor. But regardless, it is still the largest room in the cave.

I lead the way, climbing up over the breakdown and I began seeing formations poking up over the "horizon"... I climbed faster excited and more was revealed to me. I got to the top and I was in a state of awe... Even the pictures cannot do the Empire Room justice. Beautiful formations, some of them coated with white, gypsum crystals...

We probably looked and took dozens of pictures for a good while. Then I tried to find a lead in the front of the Empire Room. Chris and Paul did a couple climbs down and found a small, crawling area in a flood zone. It was muddy but it was a maze of small columns. I climbed down there and joined them. After that we climbed out and I showed them a rat's nest I had found. It was the first cave rat I've ever seen. I'd like to know how he finds his way in and out.

We then worked out way out, and then Chris decided to clean up the most, in the creek.

After we got changed we took the long way back, along Mullins Station Road. Saw some beautiful country. And we stopped briefly so Paul could see the old quarry.